Description: HUMBOLDT acquired a remarkable precision time-keeper instrument shortly before he left Paris for his Journey to the Neotropics (1799-1804). This chronometer was made by the famous Swiss-French watchmaker Louis BERTHOUD (1753-1813) with the series number 27. It had belonged to "the celebrated BORDA", as HUMBOLDT stated in his "Personal Narrative". Jean Louis BORDA (1733-1799) was a 18th century French navigator, mathematician and cartographer, who invented or improved a number of geomagnetic instruments. HUMBOLDT used this pocket chronometer for his routine astronomic and geomagnetic observations and to fix the longitude of his position while on board a vessel in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Until John "Timekeeper" HARRISON developed his famous "H 4" chronometer in 1773, a strategic invention for a maritime power as Great Britain, the longitude was a major navigational problem. HUMBOLDT, who confessed that he had a "peculiar predelication for the sea", developed great nautical skills, and his findings were much better than those of the pilots. Furthermore he used the chronometer to observe and calculate ocean currents and to improve the geographical coordinates and thus the maps for many places in Latin America. So, beside his thermometer and barometer, the chronometer certainly was a very basic instrument in the state-of-the-art collection of scientific equipment he bought before leaving Europe.

Description: A number of special purpose vessels in the world carried or carry the name of Alexander von Humboldt, who had substantial interests in oceanography. However, most of his marine texts are scattered over his major works, and he never finished his manuscript on ocean circulation. But there is a general agreement that A. v. Humboldt was one of the pioneers of marine sciences. He made his own observations on the sailing vessels he used on his expedition to the Neotropics, mainly concerning sea surface temperatures. In 2002 there was a discussion in Germany about the name of a new research vessel which is going to be commissioned in the summer of 2004. It was suggested by the science community to take the name of „Alexander von Humboldt“ again, as the new vessel is replacing a medium-sized ship with this name operated now by the Baltic Sea Research Institute in Rostock-Warnemünde. This vessel has been in service from 1970 to 1990 for the Academy of Sciences of the former German Democratic Republic. The first German research vessel „Alexander von Humboldt“ was a fishing trawler (1939). Furthermore, Peru and Mexico operate research vessels bearing Humboldt’s name. The best known „Alexander von Humboldt“ is an ocean going sailing ship of the International Sail Training Association, based in Bremen. She is engaged in educational programmes and went the South America in 1999 following Humboldt’s route. Thus, Humboldt’s marine legacy is preserved. The proposal to use the undisputed name of this great all-round scientist for the new German vessel under construction now was not successful. A high-ranking jury decided to prefer “Maria Sibylla Merian” (1647-1717), which was suggested by a young student in a nation-wide competition to find a name. As Humboldt 100 years later, she went to South America to study plants and other fields of natural history.